Seeing the End from the Beginning

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace."

Spencer W. Kimball

"Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene--one step enough for me."

Every time I sing these words, I am lead to question the sincerity with which I profess to desire to walk down uncertain paths. A good friend once observed that often times we prefer the certain path to the right path.

Sometimes I am surprised to hear someone speak in absolutely certain terms about a decision they have made about an important aspect of life that will not occur for months or years. I know, often times we talk about things in certain terms to avoid sounding shiftless.

But I wonder, should we? Or if we do talk about things in absolutely certain terms, should we also think about them unflinchingly? Or rather, should we think and talk about our lives in terms of the next step instead of the "distant scene" as is expressed in Lead, Kindly Light.

When the thought occurred to me (after I had taken the LSAT) that law school might not be the next step for me I was at first incredulous and disappointed. How could I have spent hundreds of hours preparing for something that would not lead to the originally desired outcome?

But then I realized that I was not prompted to be a lawyer, nor to go to law school, nor to apply for law school, but to prepare for law school.

Preparing for law school has provided a richness to my life and my education that has been unparalleled. It filled me with a renewed desired to apply myself to academics and to serve those around me which eventually lead me to intern in Washington, DC, an experience that forever changed my life.

I look forward to all that God has in store for me and all of those I love. Until I see the end, I will continue to make myself available for His wonderful blessings!

"I loved to choose and see my path; but now, Lead thou me on!"

N-Y-C!

Let me preface this post by warning everyone that I LOVED New York so be prepared for some enthusiasm!

We left for New York on May 22, the Friday before Memorial Day. Our bus driver was named Tony and at the beginning of our journey, he sang to us over the intercom. Only $40 and I got a ride to New York and a free concert! Of course, we had to take a picture with Tony after we arrived.

Here was my first exposure to a New York bathroom. Notice the open bottle of alcohol in the bathroom stall. Nice.

We went straight from the bus drop off to Times Square. It is quite an overwhelming experience and a bit of a tourist trap, but I loved it!



This is me eating my first hot dog from a vendor in New York.



After Times Square we made the trek up to our hostel in Upper Manhattan. It was a clean hostel, but the building it was in was old. This is all of us trying to pack into the tiny old elevator.

Here is our room. Three bunk beds in New York for about $28 a night.

This is Juliana and me on Saturday morning riding the subway.

Saturday morning we took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There was a beautiful view of Manhattan from the ferry.

I really enjoyed Ellis Island and learning about the tradition of immigration that we have in the United States.



From Ellis Island, we headed over to China Town. Michelle had told us before we got to New York that she wanted to buy a purse in China Town. So after we got off of the subway and a shady looking man asked us to follow him to his purse shop, we did it. Looking back on it, it seems like what we were doing was probably illegal, but somehow at the time I was just content to follow everyone else around.

We also had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in China Town.


Little Italy is right next to China Town.


Alicia waited in line for hours on Saturday morning while we went to the Statue of Liberty to get us discounted tickets to The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

Here is us in the theater.


For dinner on Saturday we went to his famous pizza place in Brooklyn called Grimaldi's. It is so famous that we had to wait in line for hours to get inside.

Mmmm...

We planned it so that we would walk across the Brooklyn bridge toward Manhattan as the sun set. Beautiful!
On our way to our next destination, we made a stop at Grand Central Station.


It has a cool ceiling.

For dessert we went to this cute little cafe called Serendipity. They have the most delicious and expensive desserts there.




On our way to church on Sunday morning, we walked to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It is said to be the fourth largest Christian church in the world.





After our visit to the cathedral, we walked through Central Park. I looked up as we were walking and saw the Angel Moroni sticking up through the trees!

While waiting for church to start, we sat out on the rocks.


And took pictures on the bridge that reminded us of the movie Enchanted.

The Manhattan temple!


After church we went back to central park to eat lunch.


And took the subway down to the World Trade Center. This is Harry. He has the most amazing story and was so interesting to listen to. Here is a video of him on YouTube.


Near the World Trade Centers is Trinity church. National Treasure, anyone?

And near Trinity Church is Wall Street. Here is the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).


We woke up early on Monday morning. I went to Columbia University while the other girls went to a famous bagel shop. We met up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I LOVED it! Inside I saw paintings by Monet, Degal, Degas, Picasso, Manet, and VanGogh.


There were even annunciation paintings. This was the size of the whole wall!


This is the perfect picture to describe the weekend. Juliana and me looking at the map.


After the museum we made a stop by FAO Schwartz and were able to play on the BIG Piano.


And as we were walking to the UN, we took a picture by the LOVE statue.


Sadly, North Korea set off some missiles so the UN was closed for the day. World Peace!



Then we headed over to the Rockefeller Center. You can see all of NYC from up there.






After the Rockefeller, we swung back by our hostel to pick up our bags and headed to the bus station. It was such a fun vacation and we were able to do so much. I highly recommend New York! Here is us by the hostel.

I've Finally Seen West Philadelphia

**Special thanks to Sisi and Rebecca for letting me use their pictures on my blog because my camera ran out of batteries!

The weekend of May 8-9 the whole Washington Seminar group of interns was able to visit Valley Forge and Philadelphia together. We left early Friday morning on a bus for Valley Forge.

This is a picture of us in the cramped bunks that the revolutionary soldiers slept in. We're laughing because the bunks were creaking when we were lying on them and we were afraid they would fall down on top of us!


This is a picture of most of the group standing by a cannon. Although, I don't think you can actually see the cannon in this picture.


Later that night we were visited by Thomas Jefferson. The real Thomas Jefferson. At least he seemed real. Apparently the speaker is a Thomas Jefferson expert and he has been on several TV shows like the Colbert Report. His job is to read and research about Thomas Jefferson all day so when he does his reenactments, he can answer just about any question about Thomas Jefferson's life. One student raised his hand and asked about a quote that he paraphrased. TJ, what we called him, came back with the whole direct quotation. Cool! And nice costume :)


That night we had a stink bug infestation. I know you can't see it in the picture but I'm pointing to one of many stink bugs all over my bed! One of the worst things about them, besides that they stunk, was that they blended in with the bedding and carpet. I tried not to be dramatic, but I just cannot handle sleeping with insects. I wasn't feeling it. So we created a mosquito net out of sheets and placed it around the bottom bunk and my roommate and I slept in there together. It was hot, but there were no bugs! The second picture is of the hay that was coming out of the wall. We were grateful to be staying there for free, but it was definitely not high quality.


On Saturday morning, we drove in to Philadelphia. I like this picture because it shows the historic independence hall with modern Philadelphia in the background.



We were able to see the liberty bell. Besides playing an important role in the film National Treasure, the liberty bell also was taken around the US as a symbol of liberty by the abolitionist. It also allegedly was rung to call the people of Philadelphia together for a reading of the Declaration of Independence shortly after it was signed.



That morning we were able to attend the National Constitution Center. Our visit there began with a presentation about the Constitution and its uniqueness and value. I was skeptical at first, but I ended up loving it. It reminded me of how wonderful it is to live in a nation that was founded on fundamental principles and that, though imperfect, is still striving to live up to those ideals. The rest of the Constitution Center was nice too. There were interactive exhibits that taught more about the constitution and politics in the United States Today.

Near the exit of the center were life-size statues of all of the framers of the Constitution. This is me posing like George Washington. I liked his stance. So dignified!


We were also able to visit Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was framed. Here is our tour guide in that room. If anyone has seen A More Perfect Union, this room should be familiar.

In the afternoon we had free time and because I was the only one interested in visiting the University of Pennsylvania, I headed over there by myself. The subway in Philly was not my favorite, but UPenn's law school is great. The building was beautiful and I really enjoyed the tour, though not as much as the University of Chicago. We'll see.

After my tour of the law school I headed over the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the amount of time I had didn't warrant going inside, but the outside of the building is spectacular and the view of the city from the front and of the river from the back is beautiful. I was also able to run up the Rocky Steps. I highly recommend visiting the museum if you ever go to Philadelphia.

I took the bus from the museum down to the center of the city and was able to see several other parts of Philadelphia along the way. I think the bus rides might have been one of my favorite things I did in Philadelphia because I was able to see a lot of the city that way so I would recommend it to anyone else traveling to Philly or any other city for that matter.

I included this picture because it makes me smile. Read Rebecca's shirt.